Two Vantages Points
by qsmadness007
Summary: Set before the series starts, While Bobby is still a uniform cop, he walks a friend home from work everyday, and thinks he has made a connection with her, but finds out otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

The New York air had a snap to it, as Robert Goren walked through the park. He had just gotten off work, and so was still in his well-pressed police blues.

A petit brunette in a flower skirt and blue cardigan sweater walked a few feet beside him. She was carrying an open knapsack with several books in it. "You really don't have to walk me home, Bobby." She said in her soft British voice. She wondered sometimes if when she had come here from England, she thought she would meet a man like Robert Goren. He was a perfectly sweet gentleman, she was just a little confused sometimes around him; he had this strange presence.

"It's not a problem, Victoria." He gave her an awkward smile. "Also, it's a dangerous city; I want you to be able to get home safely."  
She titled her oval face up at him slightly, a frown playing at the edge of his mouth. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she was perfectly safe walking the short distance from the library to her apartment. Victoria enjoyed the solitude of walking alone in the park, and maybe occasionally flirting with guys she saw.

She knew Bobby was just trying to be a good friend, and he didn't realize that when she walked with him it was strange. She always had the feeling that a small framed woman might have if she had decided she needed to buy a mastiff for a dog. Bobby, to her, always seemed a bit awkward of his tall frame, no matter what he wore. "You really don't have to." She said with a little more impatience than she had intended.

Bobby, who had briefly been watching a leaf fall, stopped in mid stride, and turned to her. He gave her an almost sad smile, as he watched her for a few seconds without saying anything.

"I didn't mean to imply I didn't like walking with you Bobby, it's nice." Victoria said nervously, sensing that he was hurt. She started to walk away, hoping that he would follow.

Bobby caught up with her in two steps. "Good," He said, almost as an after thought.

She thought it would be best if she started a conversation about a book she had been reading. It was just the right distraction; they talked about the book for the rest of the walk.

When they got to the apartment, she kissed him on his cheek in a sisterly fashion.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" He asked, in a prepared voice as if he had been practicing it for days in front of the mirror.

Victoria gave him a soft smile. She wanted to clarify what he meant by that, but she could tell from his hopeful expression, he meant more than two friends going out to dinner. She gave him a weak smile. "I'm sure if it will work out."

He titled her head at her. "Dinner?"

"I don't think you meant just dinner, Bobby." She frowned, she wanted to let him down gently, but she wasn't sure how to do so. "We would never work as a couple. We are better just friends." She reached up, and kissed his forehead, and headed inside.

When Victoria got near the front window, she looked outside, and Bobby was still standing on the sidewalk. His gaze was at the concrete, and he looked like a lost puppy that had just got kicked. A second later, she watched him walk away. 

Sometime about 9pm, he called her. He wanted to know that his shift had been switched and he couldn't walk her home tomorrow. He sounded like everything was okay between them, and he told her he would see her at the next meeting of the book club they were both in.

Victoria tapped her fingers nervously, and found herself blurting out. "I don't think we can be friends anymore."

It took her a few minutes to force herself to say she didn't mean it and she was sorry, but she was talking to the dial tone at that point.


	2. Chapter 2

When Bobby had come home from the park, the phone had been ringing. He was glad for the distraction, his head was spinning. It turned out to be one of his superior officers asking if tomorrow he could cover the shift of an officer, who had just experienced a death in the family. Since Bobby's current partner was on vacation, he agreed to cover.

He wondered how it would affect Victoria getting home, and then he wondered if he should even call Victoria tonight. Maybe it would be better if he just didn't tell her, and see if she called. He really hadn't expected asking her on a date to have that effect. She had almost shunned him out of her life it seemed, and completely tore down any thoughts he had about their relationship.

Why did she have such an impact on her life? He should be glad that she didn't say that they couldn't be friends anymore. It might be a little awkward, and he wondered if he just pretended the whole conversation from earlier hadn't happened, if she would just allow things to go as they were, and forgive his misjudgment.

He decided to put it out of his mind for now, since if he didn't he would just be replaying it and analyzing it, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. He then spent several hours studying for his upcoming detective exam. He was sure he had everything done in the book, but he wanted to make sure that he had it so well, that if he forgot his brain would already have it on auto-pilot. This method helped because it elevated some of the stress taking the police exams brought up.

At 7:30 he took a walk and bought a Chicken Caesar salad, and several newspapers at nearby stores. He enjoyed walking in the city, it always was a nice experience, especially when the weather was a nice medium temperature like it was now, the frost winter coming had a little nip in the air, but other than that it seemed like a nice spring day.

At 8:35, He had eaten, and gone through most of the NY Post, and the NY times, when he decided to call Victoria. It probably wasn't appropriate to leave her high and dry if she expected that he would walk her home tomorrow. He picked up the phone to dial four times, but never quite found the heart to hit the last digit. The fourth time, he hung up his phone, and began to pace the width of his apartment, thinking over the situation.

A minute before 9pm, he wiped his hand in case there was any sweat, and dialed the number. For a few minutes, they talked pleasantly, and he forced himself to pretend that nothing had happened out of the ordinary this afternoon.

Bobby was sure everything was going well, when he mentioned the book club, there was an awkward silence for almost a full minute.  
She suddenly blurted out, "I don't think we can be friends anymore."

Bobby dropped the phone, and landed on the receiver hanging the phone up. He picked up the phone to call her back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Impatiently, he yanked the cord out of the wall, and tossed the phone across the room in frustration.

He and Victoria had been friends for three years, and it was true that he had fallen in love with her, but he had never imagined she would act like this because he asked her out on a date. She had just tossed him away like a dirty napkin. Maybe if he gave her a few days, she would apologize, and they could go back to before.

Maybe not.

Bobby didn't realize he had sat down on the carpet, till he heard the extension ring in the kitchen. He pushed himself up and went to answer it, half-hoping it was Victoria.

The call was his mother, and he listened patiently as she talked to him for an hour and a half about her day. She complained about his not coming to see her lately, and he didn't correct her on the fact that he had just been last week. It was possible, she didn't remember him coming to see her, it had happened before.

Before she hung up, his mother said, "You shouldn't hang out with that Victoria, she is trouble."

Bobby hadn't even said to her anything about Victoria; actually he had barely been able to get in a word like usual. The comment made him wonder if he should take her advice, or as one of his mother's random out of context statements.

Bobby decided he would sleep on it, and maybe in the morning he wouldn't feel like opening his heart up in the first place had been his mistake.


End file.
